Elevator-door mechanism.



PATBN'IBD MAY-14, 1907.

v. A. BENSON;

ELEVATOR DOOR MECHANISM; APPBIUATIUN FILED NOV. 26, 1906- 3 SHEETS-SEBBT 1.

THE NORRIS PETERS cc., wnsummon, n. c.

No.853,859. Y PATENTBD MAY 14', 1907 v. A; BENSON.

ELEVATOR DOOR MECHANISM APPLICATION FILED NOV. 26, 1906.

a SHEETS-SHEET z.

- 1m! NORRIS PETERS c0, WASHINGTON. n c.

N0. 853,85Q- PATENTED MAY 14, 1907.

V- A. BENSON.

' ELEVATOR DOOR MECHANISM.

APPLIOATION FILED NOV. 26, 1906.

UNITED STATES.

PATENT OFFICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented. May 14., 1907.

Application filed November 26, 1906. Serial No. 345.240.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, VICTOR A. BENSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles, State of California, have invented a new and useful Elevator-Door Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to elevator door mechanism, particularly to mechanism for operating the sliding doors at the landings.

Such devices as usually constructed of links or a lazy tong'arrangement are subject to certain defects, for example, in a double door construction the movement of the linkage has a tendency to tilt the second door and cramp it, and one of the objects of the present invention is to eliminate this cramping effect.

Another object is to overcome another feature of more or less objection in such de vices which is the difiiculty of assembling the mechanism, particularly the placing of the connections at the proper points on the doors and stationary part, for the linkage must be accurately connected at exactly the right points, else, when open,,one'or the other of the doors is apt to be opened too far or not enough. Usually considerable time is required in adjusting these points accurately. Another object is to provide means to equip each door with a cushioning means whereby each door is independently cushioned.

Another object is to provide means which automatically locks the doors when they are closed and which prevents their being un-' locked by accident or by tampering from the outside.

Another object is to provide for enabling the two doors to be opened or closed with a constant ratio of differential movement, that is to say, the outer door which has to move twice the distance of the inner door, moves at all points in its travel at just twice the speed of the inner door; this promotes smoothness in operation and relieves the mechanism from undue strain and avoids noise.

Another object is to enable the unlocking and initial opening movement of the doors to be performed with a simple movement of a manually operated device by pressing it in one direction, without requiring the device to be designedly lifted and retracted at the same time.

Other objects and advantages will be brought out in the following description.

door.

Referring to the drawings: 'Figure 1 is a front elevation looking from the elevator toward the landing, showing a double door construction with the doors closed. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the single door construction. Fig. 3 is a similar view of a portion of the stationary panel showing a slightly modified form of construction of the mechanism. Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig.

1, showing the doors partly opened. Fig. 5

is a sectional view on line 90 00 Fig. 1.' Fig. 6, is a perspective view showing a portion of the mechanism, in detail, adjacent the looking device. Fig. 7 is a front elevation of the spring lock, a portion of its spring being broken away.

1 designates a stationary panel. 2 designates what will be termed the inner door. 3 designates what will be termed the outer The doors may be constructed in any desired manner, as for example, with solid sheet metal lower panels with superposed lattice or grill work. The doors are provided with hangers 4 equipped with wheels 5 which roll on separate ways 6, the door 3 operating in a parallel plane slightly offset from the plane of door 2, which enables the doors to slide past each other. The lower ends of the doors are equi ped with studs 7, which operate in groove guides 8 on the floor of the landing.

The respective doors 2 and 3 are provided with flat springs 9 and 10-. Pivoted to the upper end of spring 9 is an operating lever 11. One end of a link 12 is articulated to the upper end of spring 10, the other end of link 12 being articulated at 13 to an intermediate point of the operating lever 11. The free end of o erating lever 11 is equipped with an anti riction roller 14, as shown in Fig. 5, and the movement of that end of the o erating lever is controlled by a slotted gui e 15 in which the roller 14 is adapted to travel. The precise form of this guide is immaterial and it may be constructed in a straight line, as

- shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 4, or it may be curved as shown in Fig. 3. The slotted guide 15 may be attached by screws 16 to the panel 1, and its upper end isprovided with a buffer 17 which may be formed of rubber. As shown in Fig. 1, the upper end of the inclined guide 15 is formed with an abrupt angle which provides a shoulder 19, which, when the operat ing lever 11 is in horizontal position, locks the longitudinal movement of the operating lever 11, and thus holds the door or doors in place until the operating lever 11 is tilted to move the roller 14 below the shoulder 19. By lifting the joint 13 of operating lever 11 and link 12, the roller 14 of operating lever 11 is released from shoulder 19 and a slight push to the left will cause the operating lever 11 and link 12 to be still further flexed by reason of roller 14 riding down the inclined slotted guide 15. Then a push on door 3 to the left acts through link 12 toopen the door 2 at a slower speed than door 3, the end of the operating lever 11 being guided onward and downward by a guide 15, so that when the door-way is nearly open the doors and mechanism have positions as shown in Fig. 4. By pushing the door 3 still further so that the right'hand edges of both doors aline with the left edge of the door-way, the operating lever 11 and link 12 will bothstand substantially vertical and in line.

It will be seen that the guide 15, during this opening movement of the doors, prevents any tendency to tip the door to and cramp it, which action often occurs when a pendent arm or link is employed in place of the guide 15. It will also be noted that the jar of each door is taken by its own spring 9 or 10, and thus the shocks ofopening or closing are softened better than when a single spring is employed for cushioning both doors.

Within the inclined guide 15 the ratio of movement between doors 2 and 3 is not con stant but variable. If it is desired to have a constant ratio of movement between the two doors so that the door 3 always moves at twice the speed of the door 2, then the guide 15 may be curved, as shown in Fig. 3. The curve shown in Fig. 3, is platted to agree with the exact dimensions of the present drawings, but if the length of the operating lever 11 between its roller 14 and upper end of spring 9 be changed, then the curve of the guide would be correspondingly different, and thus in platting the curve attention should be given to the proportions of the linkage employed, as will be readily understood from the foregoing.

A method of platting the curve of guide 15 which is extremely simple may be performed as follows, utilizing the regular doors with lever 11 and link 12, (or a card board model). Doors 2 and 3 are first closed as in Fig. 1, and the link 12 and lever 11 are joined to each other and to both doors. A paper may be laid flat over panel 1, and the roller 14 being removed, a pencil is inserted through the eye in the end of lever 11 (or through a corre sponding perforation in the card board model) and a mark made on the paper. Door 3 is then opened two inches and door 2 ,moved to the left one inch, which slightly lowers the end of lever 11, and another mark is made on the paper; door 3 is then again moved to the left two inches and door 2 is moved to the left one inch and another mark made through the end of lever 1.1 on the paper. This operation of moving door 3 two inches and door 2 one inch and marking the paper, each time is repeated several more times until both doors are open. The sheet of paper may then he removed and a curved line drawn to connect all of the marks on. the paper which will give the exact pattern from which to form the curved guide.

The guide may have other shapes of curve or may be straight and yet retain. substantially all of the advantages of the invention. The straight guide need not necessarily be inclined at the exact angle shown, as this angle could be varied to suit the length of the operating lever 11, in fact the guide 15 could be arranged in a vertical straight line by extending the length of the operating lever 1 1. lVhile the exact curve of the guide shown in Fig. 3, will give an even motion of the doors and thus promote their smoothness of operation, the employment of a straight guide either vertical or inclined might be preferred on account of economy of construction. Obviously with, the curved guide shown in Fig. 3, the abutment 19 is unnecessary. The end of the operating lever 11 adjacent the joint 13, as clearly shown in Fig. 6, is extended to form an inclined edge (I. and an upper horizontal edge 7). A flat spring 20 is fastened to the panel of door 2 and its free end carries a block 21 having a lip 22 under which lip the horizontal edge Z) of the operating lever is adapted to be retained. The block 21 has airupper inclined face 23 which. operates to cause the block 21 to be sprung back by the movement of the lower edge (I. of the locking lever in sliding down. the face 23 as the operating lever is moved into horizontal position. In closing the doors their mo mentum. straightens out the link 12 and operating lever 11 and automatically snaps the edge I) of the operating lever 1 1 under the lip 22. The locking block 21 is also provided with inclined faces 24 and 25, and slidahle on the link 12 is a sleeve 26 whose movement is limited by studs 27 having rubber buffers 28 whichdeaden the noise. The sleeve 26 has a finger piece 29 and a ledge 30, which lodge is adapted to act against the inclined face 24 and push back the block 21. out of engagement with the edge I) when the sleeve 26 slid to the left a short distance, further movement to the left of the block 21. moves it under the inclined edge a of the operating lever and throws the latter out of line with the link 12 for the upper portion of ledge 30 acts as a wedge between the edge (L and upper edge of link 12. Thus in. opening the doors, grasping the finger piece 29 merely pushing it to the left, and without lifting it, will result in the operating lever 11 and link 12 being flexed to start the opening of the doors, after which initial opening movement, the doors are freely opened by sliding back the ICC outer door 3. When the mechanism reaches substantially the position shown in Fig. 4, the sleeve 26 drops by gravity against the bottom buffer 28, so that when the doors are again shut the sleeve 26 is free from block 21, or edge a and thus the edge a snaps under the lip 22 freely, thus automatically locking the doors shut.

When employing a single door construction, as shown in Fig. 2, this special locking mechanism just described, together with the link 12 is omitted, and the end of the operating lever 11 maybe provided with a single operating knob 31.

It is apparent that with the special locking mechanism shown in Fig. 6, it is not absolutely essential to form the guide 15 with the angle at its upper end, as one look is sufficient.

What I claim is 2-- 1. In combination with a sliding door, an operating lever having a pivotal connection with thedoor, and a guideway fixed with relation to the doorway of said door and continuously engaging a movable part of the operating lever at a single point on said lever, that portion of said guideway which engages the lever when the door is closedvbeing lo cated closer to the doorway than the other end of said guideway.

2. In combination with a sliding door, an operating lever having a pivotal connection with the door, and a stationary guide engaging the end'of the operating lever, said guide having an offset abutment for opposing longitudinal movement of the operating lever.

3. In combination with a sliding door, a lever fulcrum having a resilient connection with the door, an operating lever pivoted on the fulcrum, and means for controllingthe path of movement of one end of the lever.

4. In combination with a plurality of sliding doors,an operatin lever having a pivotal connection with one oor, a link connecting said lever with the-other door, said lever and link lying substantially parallel with the line of movement of the doors when the doors are closed, and stationary means for guiding the path of movement of one end of said lever and opposing longitudinal movement of the lever and link when they are parallel with said line of movement thereby locking the doors.

5. In combination with a plurality of slidingdoors, a fulcrum having a resilient connection with one door, an operating lever pivoted on the. fulcrum, a pivotal support having a resilient connection with the other door, a link connected to said pivotal support and to the operating lever, and means for guiding one end of the operating lever.

6. In combination with a plurality of sliding doors, a fulcrum having a resilient connection with one door, an operating lever' pivoted on the fulcrum, a pivotal support having a resilient connection with the other door, a link connected to said pivotal support and to the operating lever, and a stationary guide engaging one end of the operating lever for guiding it.

7. In combination with a lurality of sliding doors, an operating lever having a pivotal connection with one door, a link connecting said lever with the other door, and a stationary guide engagin one end of the o erating lever for uiding the movement of t e same, that portlon of said guide which is engaged by the end of said lever when the doors are closed being substantially perpendicular to the line of movement of the doors, thereby locking the doors when they are shut.

8. In combination with a plurality of sliding doors, a fulcrum having a resilient connection with one door, an operating lever door, a link connecting the ever with the other door, means for guiding the movement of the operating lever, the end of the operating lever having a beveled face, and a slide on the link for acting on the bevel face to flex the link and lever.

10. In combination with a plurality of sliding doors, an operating lever pivoted to one door, a link connectin the lever with the other door, means for gui ing the movement of the operating lever, the end of the operating lever having a beveled face, and a slide on the link for acting on the bevel face to flex the link and lever, and means for limiting the movement of the slide on the link.

11. In combination with a plurality of sliding doors, an operating lever pivoted to one door, a link connectin the lever with the other door, means for gui 'ng the movement of the operating lever, theend of the operating lever having a beveled face, and a slide on the link for acting on the bevel face to flex the link and lever, a spring catch on the first door adapted to engage and lock the end of the lever, "said slide having means for disengaging said catch when the slide is operated to fleX the link and lever.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at Los Angeles, California this 17th day of November, 1906.

VICTOR A. BENSON. In presence of- GEORGE T. 'HACKLEY, FRANK L. A. GRAHAM.

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